A typical method for root canal treatment is to remove inflamed dental pulp to save the tooth, even if the tooth is then dead. For removing the dental pulp, the root canal must be precisely exposed and sanitized so that it can subsequently be sealed. The entrance into the affected root canal must therefore first be found. The canal is subsequently exposed with a file, wherein the intent is to expose the canal exactly up to the root tip.
Locating the entrance to a root canal is based widely on the experience of the dentist. It is extremely difficult to find the entrances in the area of the molar tooth since multiple root canals are here present, which may also be strongly curved in its course. The number of root canals and their course cannot always be clearly determined based on panoramic radiographs or single tooth scans.
If an incorrect path is found which misses the actual root canal, the inflamed root is not removed and the subsequent root canal treatment is a priori deemed to fail.
For implant planning, DE 199 52 962 A1 describes creating a drilling aid using surface data and 3D data.